nevada to complement the veterans home in boulder city. [applause] nevada cherishes its veterans, and these resources will help insure that our service members receive the benefits they deserve. we owe the men and women who serve our country nothing less than total victory. prison -- [applause] ladies and gentlemen, by doing all of these things we are laying the groundwork for the future of our children and their families. they are the foundation of my budget and will continue to be the primary focus of my administration. my executive budget that will be transmitted to the legislature tonight represents general fund spending of approximately $6.5 billion for the next two years which is a modest increase over my last budget. caseload growth in health and human services drives much of this increase. my commitment to k-12 education has also increased spending for our schools. but we must only allow for growth that our fragile economic recovery can bear. in this budget we've reduced the tax burden on local businesses, we've addressed increasin